Parents with children in Jackson Public Schools are waiting for Hinds County Chancery Court Judge J. Dewayne Thomas to decide if the state's charter-school law violates the Mississippi Constitution, which may happen any day now. The Southern Poverty Law Center represents several parents with children in JPS in the lawsuit against Gov. Phil Bryant, the Mississippi Department of Education and JPS.

The case asks the court to decide if public-school districts sending their local and state funding to charter schools located in their district violates the state's constitutional mandates for school funding.

Three charter schools operate in the state, all in Jackson so far, and the Charter Authorizer Board authorized a fourth to open next year in Clarksdale.

In just two years, charter schools have cost Jackson Public Schools more than $4.75 million in lost funding, the SPLC brief filed in May says.

"If the (Charter Schools Act) remains in effect, the expansion of charter schools will continue to deplete public funds from traditional public school districts across the state, and will do so without any oversight from a local district superintendent, a local school board, the State Board of Education, or the State Superintendent," the brief says.

The state maintains that charter schools operate as free, public schools in the state and are similar to public schools. Charter schools must have open enrollment, be non-sectarian and nonprofit, the State's brief, filed in May, says. The Mississippi Board of Education also assesses charter schools for standards, assessments, graduation and accountability grades, just like public schools.

The plaintiff parents in the case argue that, as in the Pascagoula School District v. Tucker case, school districts should not be forced to share their ad valorem tax dollars, property tax dollars specifically allocated to public schools, with charters.

The State argues that this misinterprets the Tucker case entirely, because charter schools benefit local students.

"Unlike the legislative mandate in Pascagoula School District v. Tucker that unilaterally divested the taxed district of its funds, taxpayer parents choose to send their school-aged children to a public charter school. And when they do so, the money simply follows the local student," the state's May brief says.

The SPLC argues that charter schools are not inside the district's control. If Judge Thomas finds this to be true, the Charter Schools Act of 2013 would violate Section 206 of the Mississippi Constitution.

The State acknowledges that the "traditional public school district" receives less money when there are charter schools in their district but argue that "the school also is relieved of the responsibility to educate the child."

"There is thus an equal transfer from one public school system to another public school system," the State's response filed June 21 says. "With this, every child who stays in a traditional public school has the same amount of per-pupil funding available to him or her as before the MCSA was enacted."

All parties in the case filed the necessary paperwork this summer and await Judge Thomas' decision. Whichever party loses has the right to appeal to the Mississippi Supreme Court, which could mean another year of litigation in the case.

Correction: A previous version of this story stated that the fourth charter school in the state is in Cleveland. It's in Clarksdale, not Cleveland. We apologize for the error. Email state reporter Arielle Dreher at arielle@jacksonfreepress.com Read more stories at jfp.ms/charter and jfp.ms/jps.

Jackson will gain a new music and event venue when The Flamingo (3011 N. State St.) opens its doors on Thursday, Oct. 5. Event promoter, musician and former Jackson Free Press contributor Garrad Lee is among the owners of The Flamingo, along with Bradley Adair, Ahmad and Saddi Thompson, Ian Hanson and Michael Milnick.

Following a soft opening and open house during Fondren After 5 on Thursday, Oct. 5, The Flamingo will officially launch on Friday, Oct. 6, with performances from Clouds & Crayons, James Crow and the Jackson Jackals from 7 p.m. to midnight. The venue will host a retro boutique pop-up event featuring vintage furniture, clothing, art and decor on Saturday, Oct. 7, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

For more information, call 601-954-2788, visit flamingojxn.com or follow The Flamingo on Facebook.

GJCP Hosts Women's Business Conference

The Greater Jackson Chamber Partnership is hosting the Emerge Women's Business Conference on Tuesday, Oct. 3, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Jackson Convention Complex (105 E. Pascagoula St.). The conference will feature eight women business owners as speakers, a continental breakfast and lunch, and speed networking sessions.

The conference will begin with speeches from Katy Hedglin, executive director of The Source by BankPlus, and Janie Walters, a professional speaker and trainer who owns Madison-based Champion Communications. Beginning at 9:40 a.m., Thimblepress owner Kristen Ley and Amy Head Studios owner Amy Head will speak on the importance of authenticity and first impressions for business owners.

Speed networking sessions begin at 10:50 a.m. and consist of 20-minute presentations from five business owners. Attendees can choose two presentations to attend when registering for the conference. Presenters include Carolyn Boteler, president and owner of TempStaff; Janita Stewart, a district director with the U.S. Small Business Administration; Angela Butler, president of the Angela Butler Company; Erika McMillon, president of the Akire Company; and Fon James, owner of Fon James Enterprises.

The conference will end with a keynote speech from Janie Walters at noon about the power of optimism.

The conference is $85 per person for GJCP members, $100 per person for nonmembers and $850 for a reserved table for 10. For more information, call 601-948-7575 or visit greaterjacksonpartnership.com.

Flowood Pet Hospital Holding Grand Opening

Flowood Pet Hospital and Resort (5316 Lakeland Dr., Flowood), which opened its doors in July, will host a grand opening and open house on Saturday, Sept. 30, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Jackson native Mitch Clemmer, former owner of the Banfield Pet Hospital and a veterinarian with 36 years of experience, opened Flowood Pet Hospital after selling Banfield's locations in the Jackson and Flowood PetSmart stores last fall.

The hospital offers care for dogs and cats, as well as small animals such as hamsters and gerbils. Services include grooming, vaccinations, dentistry, surgery, microchipping, nutritional counseling, boarding and more.

Flowood Pet Hospital also offers a "Healthy Pet Plan," which allows cat and dog owners to pay a monthly fee for benefits such as unlimited sick visits and office calls, an annual physical exam, routine vaccinations, and includes a deluxe boarding service with larger space and beds, televisions and a camera that owners can use to remotely check on their pets.

"A lot of people often wonder how their pet is doing if they're boarding them while they're out of town, so we offer the camera and give them a code they can dial in remotely to see their pet while they're gone," Clemmer told the JFP.

The grand opening will feature food, prize drawings for both pets and owners, a "best dressed pet" contest, a jump house for children and open-house tours of the hospital's facilities.

Flowood Pet Hospital and Resort is open Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturday from 7 a.m. to noon. For more information, call 601-992-0900 or visit flowoodpethospital.com.

Wells United Methodist Church will host its 34th WellsFest art and music festival on Saturday, Sept. 30, at Jamie Fowler Boyll Park. The church is dedicating the 2017 event to Keith Tonkel, the former pastor of 48 years who died this year. Mississippi artist Cristen Craven Barnard has created a design for event posters and T-shirts in Tonkel's honor that includes one of his favorite sayings, "Always love, always."

Barnard says that she has been involved with the Methodist church her whole life and can remember Tonkel as far back as when she attended youth rallies in high school.

"He was going around getting involved for the church all over the state for as long as I can remember," she said.

Barnard also created the poster design for the 2016 WellsFest, but with this year's image, she wanted to capture the history of the festival.

"I went with the butterfly, guitar and peace-sign design for this year because I wanted it to feel like the WellsFest events of the past," she said. "I looked at logos and designs from over the years so I could come up with an artsy image that would capture the '60s-like feel of peace, love and music that WellsFest has always had. What I love most about WellsFest is that it gets people to come together with their neighbors to enjoy music and help deserving groups that are working to serve their communities."

Barnard was born in New Orleans, grew up in Clarksdale, Miss., and graduated from Clarksdale High School. Around 1981, she took a job as a display manager at a department store, and then about three years later, she decided to go into business for herself as a professional artist and began selling clothing and jewelry featuring her art, eventually moving into creating murals and poster designs.

In 1997, she began creating posters for blues festivals. Over the years, she has created more than 100 posters for music events all over the U.S., including the King Biscuit Blues Festival in Helena, Ark., the Sunflower River Blues and Gospel Festival in Clarksdale, and the Highway 61 Blues Festival in Leland, Miss. For seven years, she also created the poster artwork for Norway's Notodden Blues Festival, which is one of the biggest blues celebrations in Europe. In 2014, the Blues Foundation presented Barnard with the Keeping the Blues Alive Award for her work.

In 2015, Barnard started her own line of greeting cards called U R Loved Cards, which feature mostly paintings in sets of six.

"I started out just making cards for family and friends, and soon, everyone wanted them," she said.

The card sets have themes such as faith, Mississippi and flowers, and she says that she enjoys creating them in sets because she is able to address each theme in a variety of ways.

Barnard currently lives in Senatobia, Miss., with her husband of 32 years, Robert. They have five adult children: Lindsey, Rachael, Chad, Tres and Chris.

Barnard's artwork will be in the live auction at the annual WellsFest Art Night, which takes place from 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 26, at Duling Hall (622 Duling Ave.).

From public safety to education, several large state agencies asked top lawmakers for more funding last week. Based on the State of Mississippi's economic outlook, however, more funding does not seem to be in sight.

State economist Darrin Webb told lawmakers that Mississippi has experienced only minor growth in both 2015 and 2016. The state's gross domestic product grew less than 1 percent each of those years (8/10s of a percent in 2016 and 3/10s of a percent in 2015).

"The state has struggled to gain momentum since the recession in 2008," Webb told lawmakers at the Woolfolk building last week. "It seems like we're taking one step forward and then two steps back."

Webb said Mississippi "lackluster performance" since the national recession in 2008 is undeniable, especially when you compare the state's gross domestic product and employment growth to national levels. The total GDP growth since 2008 is 1.7 percent, while it is 15.9 percent nationally, Webb said. Employment gains in the state are more than 5 percent, but nationally those gains are more than 11 percent.

House Speaker Philip Gunn, R-Clinton, said this current year's budget is based on no growth estimates and that he expects the same for the fiscal-year 2019 budget, too.

"Based on what Darrin Webb said yesterday, we're just going to have to remain very cautious," he told reporters on Sept. 22 after the budget hearings.

The Joint Legislative Budget Committee will meet again in November and then adopt its budget recommendations for fiscal-year 2019 in December, but Gunn emphasized how far ahead—a year and a half—lawmakers were trying to project the budget.

"It's just incredibly hard for any of these experts to predict what is the revenue going to be in March of '19...," Gunn said. "We will have much more accurate information come March of next year."

Eleven of the state's agencies presented their budget requests to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee, with the majority of them asking for more funding. Leaders of the state's K-12 education system, community colleges and public universities all requested more money last week.

The Department of Mental Health stood out, however, when Executive Director Diana Mikula requested level funding—the same amount of funds the agency received last year—in a shift from the agency's previous cries for more financial support in recent years.

After Mikula's less than five-minute presentation last Friday, no lawmakers asked her questions, despite the fact that the department is still embroiled in a federal lawsuit for not providing enough community-based services[LINK: http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/mentalhealth/].

Gunn said DMH can accomplish its mission within the dollars it has, based on the department's request.

"It certainly (is) interesting that they are telling us now that they are able to accomplish their mission within the existing dollars," he said. "I am pleased with that."

Email state reporter Arielle Dreher at arielle@jacksonfreepress.com and follow her on Twitter at @arielle_amara for breaking news.

The owners of the Baltimore Ravens, the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots and other teams on Sunday joined a chorus of NFL executives criticizing President Donald Trump's suggestion that they fire players who kneel for the national anthem.

The statements, from Patriots owner Robert Kraft and Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti, contrasted a morning tweet from Trump and further escalated the political drama of the league's game day, which was expected to be one of the most-watched for non-sporting reasons in years.

Bisciotti said he "100 percent" supports his players' decision to kneel during the national anthem. At least seven of them did, joined by more than a dozen Jacksonville Jaguars, before the teams played at Wembley Stadium in London.

Kraft, who has been a strong backer of the president, expressed "deep disappointment" with Trump and said politicians could learn much from the unifying spirit of a competitive, team-oriented enterprise like football.

"Our players are intelligent, thoughtful, and care deeply about our community and I support their right to peacefully affect social change and raise awareness in a manner that they feel is most impactful," Kraft said in a statement.

Quarterback Colin Kaepernick started the kneeling movement last year when he played for the San Francisco 49ers, refusing to stand during "The Star-Spangled Banner" to protest the treatment of black people by police. Kaepernick became a free agent and has not been signed by a new team for this season.

Without identifying Kaepernick, Trump aimed a Friday talk at a Huntsville, Alabama, rally at those players who have knelt for the anthem.

"Wouldn't you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, you'd say, 'Get that son of a bitch off the field right now. Out! He's fired,'" he said to loud applause.

Again in a Sunday morning tweet, Trump urged his supporters to take action: "If NFL fans refuse to go to games until players stop disrespecting our Flag & Country, you will see change take place fast. Fire or suspend!"

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin followed up Sunday on ABC's "This Week" defending Trump, saying the NFL has many rules governing what players can and cannot do.

"I think what the president is saying is that the owners should have a rule that players should have to stand in respect for the national anthem," Mnuchin said. "They can do free speech on their own time."

Trump's remarks provoked team owners and the NFL to stridently defend the sport and its players.

The Buffalo Bills were bothered enough by the situation to hold a voluntary team meeting on Saturday, with players, coaches, staff and ownership all taking part.

"Our goal was to provide open dialogue and communication. We listened to one another. We believe it's the best way to work through any issue we are facing, on and off the field," owners Terry and Kim Pegula said in a statement distributed by the Bills . "President Trump's remarks were divisive and disrespectful to the entire NFL community, but we tried to use them as an opportunity to further unify our team and our organization. Our players have the freedom to express themselves in a respectful and thoughtful manner and we all agreed that our sole message is to provide and to promote an environment that is focused on love and equality."

Commissioner Roger Goodell, who has taken heat for Kaepernick's struggle to find a team, quickly condemned Trump's comments.

"The NFL and our players are at our best when we help create a sense of unity in our country and our culture. There is no better example than the amazing response from our clubs and players to the terrible natural disasters we've experienced over the last month," Goodell said. "Divisive comments like these demonstrate an unfortunate lack of respect for the NFL, our great game and all of our players, and a failure to understand the overwhelming force for good our clubs and players represent in our communities."

"The callous and offensive comments made by the president are contradictory to what this great country stands for," York said. "Our players have exercised their rights as United States citizens in order to spark conversation and action to address social injustice. We will continue to support them in their peaceful pursuit of positive change in our country and around the world."

Added Green Bay Packers President and CEO Mark Murphy: "We believe it is important to support any of our players who choose to peacefully express themselves with the hope of change for good. As Americans, we are fortunate to be able to speak openly and freely."

This weekend's games were sure to bring more protests, with Tampa Bay receiver Desean Jackson promising to make "a statement."

"I know our players who kneeled for the anthem, and these are smart young men of character who want to make our world a better place for everyone," Ross said. "They wanted to start a conversation and are making a difference in our community, including working with law enforcement to bring people together. We all can benefit from learning, listening and respecting each other."

AP Sports Writer John Wawrow in Buffalo, New York, contributed to this report.

The pending takeover of Jackson Public Schools drew dozens of citizens to Friday Forum at the former Koinonia Coffeehouse this morning to learn about what it means for capital-city families. Tyrone Hendrix, the executive director of the state's largest teacher union, the Mississippi Association of Educators, said the outpouring of community involvement has had an impact.

Hendrix emphasized that the "Our JPS" coalition included several local community organizations that have historically been working in Jackson's public schools, just not together.

"This isn't something new," he told the crowd at Friday Forum. "We've all been involved deeply in the schools ... but we've been doing things in silos."

"Our JPS" formed in the past few weeks when the Mississippi Department of Education that the Commission on School Accreditation would meet to consider whether or not Jackson Public Schools is in a state of "extreme emergency." The coalition gathered more than 4,000 signatures on petitions opposing the takeover, and organized press conferences and rallies to voice community concern about the Mississippi Department of Education assuming control of the second largest district in the state.

Last week, the commission decided that JPS was in a state of emergency, and the Mississippi Board of Education voted similarly the next day to declare JPS in an "extreme emergency." For the takeover to occur, Gov. Phil Bryant now must sign that resolution to take away local control, dissolve the JPS School Board and approve the state's choice for interim superintendent Dr. Margie Pulley. He has yet to sign the resolution, however, and said this week he would not rush.

Hendrix, a former Ward 6 city councilman, expressed gratitude to Gov. Phil Bryant for taking his time making the takeover decision, noting that the governor had signed the state board's Tunica resolution the next day.

"We're appreciative that he will take a look at both sides (MDE and JPS)," Hendrix said.

Hendrix said the state's takeover track record is "abysmal," noting that the most recent takeover in the Tunica County School District affected a little over 2,000 students. That amount, he said, is "not even one feeder pattern" in JPS. Nearly 27,000 students ewre enrolled in JPS during the 2016-2017 school year.

Mississippi's conservator law has also changed—now it's called Districts of Transformation—and JPS would be subject to at least five consecutive years with state control, once the district gets to a "C" level, unless the state board decides differently.

"Our children will be test subjects for this 'district of transformation,' ... so this is a scary time for us," Hendrix, whose two children attend JPS schools, said.

The MAE executive director acknowledged that JPS faces several challenges, and he said addressing problems like teacher shortages and providing more services to kids and families would help. "If we're serious about correcting our schools... we have to be serious about wraparound services," he said.

Wraparound services would provide additional educational, as well as health and employment supports for students and their families.

Correction: A previous version of this story said Hendrix was a former Ward 2 Councilman. He represented Ward 6 not Ward 2. We apologize for the error. To read more about the impending takeover of JPS, visit jfp.ms/jpstakeover. Email state reporter Arielle Dreher at arielle@jacksonfreepress.com and follow her on Twitter @arielle_amara for breaking news.

This week, the Department of Homeland Security began operations with Mississippi State University and other locations throughout Mississippi as a research and development test site for drones, or unmanned small aircraft.

The DHS Science and Technology Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems Demonstration Range Facility covers 2,000 square miles of restricted airspace at altitudes up to 60,000 feet. MSU will work with DHS on drone flight and exercise support for scenarios such as disaster relief from floods, fires and earthquakes, highway and rail accidents, border protection and containment of hazardous-material spills.

Other DHS research sites include the Mississippi National Guard's Camp Shelby Joint Forces Training Center, the Mississippi Air National Guard's Gulfport Combat Readiness Training Center, NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center, the Jackson County Port Authority, and the Hancock County Port and Harbor Commission.

Mississippi State University heads the Federal Aviation Administration's Alliance for System Safety of UAS through Research Excellence, which is a group of 23 universities that coordinate research and development on unmanned aircraft systems, and operates an incubator for drone-centered businesses on its Starkville campus.

Millsaps Renovating Christian Center

Millsaps College recently hired architectural firm Dale Partners to renovate the interior of the campus' historic Christian Center, which was constructed in 1950. The college hosted a ceremony at the center to formally launch the $14-million renovation project on Friday, Sept. 22.

The renovations will include a new lecture hall, high-tech classrooms, faculty offices, suites and seminar rooms, as well as an interdenominational cruciform chapel. The construction will also restore the building's front facade and install a new clock tower with the same look of the original.

Dale Partners has previously restored Lee Hall and Cooley Hall at Mississippi State University, Hardy Hall and College Hall at the University of Southern Mississippi, and Bondurant Hall at the University of Mississippi.

UMMC and MSU Launch Child Health and Development Project

University of Mississippi Medical Center's Center for Advancement of Youth and Mississippi State University's Social Science Research Center have partnered on a new initiative called the Child Health and Development Project.

The project's goal is to increase health and development outcomes for children less than 6 years old. The U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration will fund the project over the next three years through a $10.5-million grant. Funding for the first year of the project will be $3.5 million.

CHDP will provide health screenings at doctors' offices and child-care centers and more, as well as train physicians and child-care workers in the best practices for evaluating and treating children with unmet development needs, and increase the number of medical providers and allied-health professionals who specialize is childhood development. Dr. Robert Annett, UMMC's professor of pediatrics, is the project's research director.

A press release from UMMC says that less than a fifth of Mississippi children ages 6 and younger receive screenings for developmental and behavioral disorders, and that early childhood experiences can have long-term health consequences, such as mental-health problems, obesity and cardiovascular disease, and can shape a child's educational, social, physical and even economic well-being.

The young woman who accused Darnell Turner of beating her, dragging her, strangling her, shooting at her car, strangling her, and dangling her off a bridge in the Washington Addition when she was 22 was in the courtroom this morning when Hinds County Circuit Judge Jeff Weill sentenced the 39-year-old to 45 consecutive years in prison on three felony counts.

The petite woman—who the judge said weighed about half as much as Turner during the attack—took the stand with her hair pulled back tightly, large gold earrings and wearing a leopard-print blouse. She described what the father of her child was recently convicted of doing to her. She talked about leaving "the club" (Freelon's) on July 12, 2014, and following him to the Dairy Bar in the Addition with another woman in the car with him. After they pulled over, he came up to the car and said, "'I've got something for you,'" she said.

Turner, who also goes by Donald Turner and was arrested years ago under the last name Dixon, then pulled her out the car, dragged her through a ditch and then held her over the side of a nearby bridge, she said.

"Oh, my God!" she cried out then.

"Bitch, you ain't got no God," Turner replied, according to her testimony.

Turner's attorney Dennis C. Sweet then stood up to question her, trying to talk about allegations that she had followed him before that incident, but the judge sustained an objection to bringing up allegations that were not allowed into the trial. Sweet tried to get her to admit that Turner did not shoot her, which she quickly agreed with, adding, "He did not shoot me." But he shot toward her, she added.

She also confirmed that Turner had given her money for her child, but "not all the time."

"My Dad took care of her most of her life," she added about her daughter.

When the state prosecutor asked the victim what would be an appropriate sentence for Turner, she said, "It's hard to say." He then asked if it was a "serious incident," and she responded, "Yes, sir."

Sweet argued to the judge that Turner had not been on probation, parole or convicted of any crimes.

The judge then asked if Turner had a statement, as he stood in front of the bench in chains and handcuffs and wearing a dark-brown prison uniform. He declined, with Sweet then confirming that he had asked him not to say anything, clearly planning to appeal the verdicts rather than than ask for a lenient sentence.

Then it was Weill's turn to announce his sentence. First, he recapped the facts of the case, saying that the young woman had followed Turner, and then he "beat her severely, dragged her to a bridge and hung her over it." Turner strangled her and beat her in the face, Weill said. He then shot at the car several times, leaving two bullet holes in it. He then attacked a man from the Washington Addition who tried to intervene, hitting him in the head twice with his gun, the judge said.

The record shows that Turner then returned and put the victim in his car, and with the other woman following in his car, drove her to her father's house and dropped her off. The judge said that texts from Turner to the victim "essentially admitted assaulting her."

'Boasted About Your Relationship with Public Officials'

Weill also brought up a different investigation that was the elephant hovering over the courtroom for Turner—that Hinds County District Attorney Robert Shuler Smith had defended Turner in past criminal cases. After police investigated the 2014 attack on the victim, the judge said, Smith had gotten the case to prosecute, and his office opted not to include a recording that could have supported Turner's indictment. Smith's office presented the case to a grand jury, but without that evidence, the judge said, and the grand jury no-billed it, which means essentially dismissing the charges.

Weill told Turner that the recording indicated that "you had boasted about your relationship with public officials and that nothing would happen because of that relationship." The judge continued, indicating that Smith did not recuse before the case went to the grand jury on his watch: "I’ll note that now-District Attorney Robert Smith represented you in the past, and his office, despite that prior relationship, and without any effort to recuse himself from his office, presented your case to the grand jury and (it resulted in a) 'no-bill,' essentially dismissing the charges until the AG’s office discovered that relationship, and Mr. Smith agreed that his office should be removed from the case."

Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood's office stepped in after the original "no bill" on Smith's watch, and presented a different case against Turner to a grand jury and got the indictment, Weill said, that led to Turner's most recent arrest in 2016 and recent trial and conviction. Hood's office is quick to point out that the State took over the case after Smith eventually recused in open court, saying that he had defended Turner as a defense attorney and that the accused had visited him in his home.

"Miss (name withheld) is a brave woman for testifying against you," Weill said to the accused standing right in front of him.

Weill sentenced Turner to 10 years for aggravated assault with a firearm; 20 for aggravated domestic violence; five for shooting into an occupied vehicle and an additional 10 years for using a gun in the attack. The judge said he was eligible for a 55-year sentence, but did not order the full sentence because none of his previous arrests had ended in conviction.

Sweet chose to address Weill's comments about the district attorney after the sentence. “Your honor, throughout this trial, you have mentioned public officials, Robert Smith," Sweet told Weill. "... We started early on to investigate, emails, Robert Smith and everything else. Robert Smith has played no role in this trial. He’s not assisted me. I represented Mr. Turner from the very beginning. … I was never contacted, Mr. Turner was never contacted. We never were involved in the presentation of this case to the grand jury. We had no involvement whatsoever. Robert Smith provided us no information, no documents. We hadn’t even talked to Robert Smith about this case."

The defense attorney then referred to emails that the attorney general’s office used to initially include Turner in their case against Smith. “It appeared in the newspaper of Robert Smith having assisted me," Sweet said. "We made a concerted effort not to be involved with Robert Smith. My client has told me on more than one occasion: 'You represent me. Don’t get involved with Robert Smith stuff.'"

Still, Smith himself kept bringing up Turner's case in the lead-up to his own trial. He told his assistant district attorney Ivon Johnson, who was the State's wired confidential informant, for instance: "Oh, we going to get (Butler) free now between me and Waide and all that, and then Dennis is doing his thing on the other one." He was, presumably, referring to Turner and his attorney, but there is no evidence that Sweet was in agreement at the time.

Sweet declined comment for this story after the sentencing hearing ended.

'Summary: Political Prisoners'

Weill's comments about the district attorney support the attorney general office's narrative that Smith has helped certain criminals avoid prosecution and trial, while Smith and his legal team argue that he is just trying to ensure that innocent people do not go to prison.

Smith texted a Clarion-Ledger reporter on May 17, 2016, to pitch a "hot topic" that involved himself, Butler, Weill and presumably Turner, as he named Sweet in the text: "Summary: political prisoners who are being held on false charges because of the AGs office and judge Jeff Weill fighting the hinds DA. It's very serious because their constitutional and civil rights are being violated. Dennis sweet represents another defendant and he is furious about it. I'm filing something today with Supreme Court on Christopher butler. Thanks. I know you're busy." (sic) The transcript was part of Hood's first trial of Smith that ended in a mistrial.

Hood's office had originally included Turner's case in an affidavit indictment of Smith for hindering the prosecution of Turner by allegedly working with his attorney, Sweet, whom he has known much of his life. But a later grand-jury indictment of Smith did not include Turner, and just focused on Smith's efforts to help Christopher Butler avoid charges in a drug case and another for wire fraud at his place of employment. Smith's first trial ended in a mistrial, and he was acquitted in his second trial. Smith now faces felony charges in a Rankin County court in October for domestic violence and assault charges from a former girlfriend who says the DA also pulled a gun on her. The attorney general is also prosecuting that case.

An FBI agent who investigated both Smith and Turner, Robert Culpepper, sat in the front row during the sentencing. He alleged in a letter to the attorney general's office that Smith was shielding drug attackers, possibly including Turner, whom he said the FBI was looking at for possibly running a criminal trucking operation out of the Clinton home, where he lives with his mother. But neither Smith nor Turner have been charged or tried for those allegations, which are part of the court files in the DA's trials.

Culpepper also reported to the attorney general that the mother of two of Turner's children worked in Smith's office at the time, but it was not the same woman who was the victim in the courtroom today.

"I'm glad to see a person who has no respect for his own child's mother put away not only from her, but others who could be in his path of violence," Hood said in a statement today. "Domestic violence is a very serious offense, and to have Judge Weill recognize that through this sentencing should let other offenders know this violence will absolutely not be tolerated, and our office will prosecute it to the largest extent."

Author's Note: The above story is updated with additional information including transcription from the video of Turner's sentencing about Robert Smith's alleged efforts to help Turner.

Rushing yards have not been easy to find for University of Southern Mississippi senior running back Ito Smith. The Mobile, Ala., native entered the third game of the season still looking to break the 100-yard mark in 2017.

The University of Kentucky defense stifled Smith in the season opener on Sept. 2, limiting him to 37 yards on 16 carries. Smith ended up being a receiving threat against the Wildcats instead, as he caught nine passes for 78 yards.

Southern University couldn't hold the 5-foot, 9-inch, 195-pound star out of the end zone on Sept. 9, as he scored his first rushing touchdown of the season and helped the Golden Eagles to a 45-0 win. The Jaguars' defense did limit Smith to just 77 yards on 17 carries, however. He also caught two passes for 18 yards.

Smith finally broke loose against the University of Louisiana at Monroe on Saturday, Sept. 16. The senior exploded for a career-high 219 yards on 27 carries with one touchdown. He made three catches for 13 yards to cap off his big night. It was the first time that he broke the 200-yard barrier in college. For his efforts, Smith earned the title of Conference USA Offensive Player of the Week—his first time to receive that honor.

Over the course of three games this season, Smith has rushed for 333 yards on 60 carries with two touchdowns. The running back also has 109 receiving yards on 14 receptions but hasn't found the end zone in the passing game.

Smith earned his 31st career touchdown against Louisiana-Monroe, moving into fourth place on the school's career touchdown list. It was also his 17th time to earn 100 or more rushing yards in a single game, putting him in a second-place tie for the most in USM history.

Thanks to 254 all-purpose yards against Louisiana-Monroe, Smith also reached 5,093 all-purpose yards for second place in school history. Former USM great Damion Fletcher holds first place with 6,253 all-purpose yards.

Before Smith came to USM, 247Sports.com considered him a three-star recruit, and Scout.com and Rivals.com listed him as a two-star recruit. He was named First Team All-State, All-Region and All-Area, as well as the Mobile Press-Register Coastal Alabama Offensive Player of the Year as a senior in 2013. That year, he ran for 1,803 yards on 255 carries with 24 touchdowns, while also making 27 catches for 383 yards and five touchdowns.

Smith appeared in all 12 games as a freshman at USM, rushing for 536 yards on 136 carries with two touchdowns and making eight catches for 76 yards. As a sophomore in 2015, he played in all 14 games, amassing 1,128 rushing yards on 171 carries with 10 touchdowns. He also had 515 receiving yards on 49 catches with three touchdowns that season.

In his junior year, he appeared in all 13 games and ran for 1,459 yards on 265 carries. Smith made 43 catches for 459 yards and two touchdowns that year, as well. The running back was a finalist for the 2016 Conerly Trophy.

USM is 2-1 this season, and the team is off this week on a bye. The Golden Eagles will return to action on Saturday, Sept. 30, at home against the University of North Texas.

]]>Bryan FlynnThu, 21 Sep 2017 12:04:06 -0500http://jacksonfreepress.com/news/2017/sep/21/ito-smith/Most Viral, Impactful Stories in the First 15 Years of the Jackson Free Presshttp://jacksonfreepress.com/news/2017/sep/20/most-viral-impactful-stories-first-15-years-jackso/

Most Viral and Viewed Stories Since 2007

The JFP has gotten hundreds of thousands of page views for our top-viewed stories since we started tracking a decade or so ago. The biggest one was last year, thanks to Gov. Phil Bryant, and most were enterprise stories that we worked hard to do well and be the first to reveal.

Others show the international interest in Jackson’s “Dancing Dolls” and local support of the city’s best restaurants. Many of our most viral stories blew up due to sudden media interest (The Huffington Post featured Ronni Mott's Michelle Byrom work, for instance, thus amplifying it to a much larger stage).

Some stories, such as the "Poverty-Crime Connection," have shown up steady over the years. Still others, those that have to do with "Dancing Dolls" or guns, for instance, draw traffic in spurts, depending on whether the TV program is airing, or in the case of guns, if the national news cycle is paying attention to them.

Here are our top 15 as of about late 2006 when we started tracking analytics as we do today.

In 2005, after a Neshoba County court convicted Edgar Ray Killen in the infamous civil-rights cold case, Donna Ladd, photographer Kate Medley and later intern Thabi Moyo joined a Canadian Broadcasting Corp. cameraman to investigate the 1964 Klan murders of two young black men near Meadville, Miss. On the first day, they learned that James Ford Seale was still alive, even though the Associated Press and The Clarion-Ledger had reported him dead. Our package of stories about the trip with Moore’s brother, Thomas, helped get the case re-opened and, ultimately, was used extensively in federal court leading to the conviction of Seale for federal kidnapping charges. He died in federal prison in 2011.

Cedric Willis’ Deepest Midnight

The JFP did not get Cedric Willis out of prison. Due to District Attorney Ed Peters’ office—the prosecutor was Bobby DeLaughter just months after he had famously convicted Byron De La Beckwith for killing Medgar Evers—botching the prosecution, Willis went to prison for a rape and murder he did not commit. He stayed there for 12 years until Innocence Project attorneys successfully proved that he was not involved.

Brian Johnson’s long-form narrative showed how justice was denied under the media radar with few people asking questions about a wrongfully accused young black men. The story motivated a local reverend to raise money for Willis, give him a job and work with him to get a restitution law passed in Mississippi. Willis has regularly talked to JFP staffers and interns, as well as Youth Media Project teens, since his release in 2006, inspiring them to do deep work that matters. The story also exposed some problems with the prosecutor, whom actor Alec Baldwin played in the 1996 film "Ghosts of Mississippi" years before then-Judge DeLaughter went to prison after a bribe offer from Peters. Ahem.

The Mysteries and Trials of Frank Melton

Donna Ladd took notice of former WLBT executive and Texan Frank Melton when he challenged Harvey Johnson Jr. for mayor in 2006. Based on a conversation with Melton during his campaign, she learned that police had accused him in the 1990s of drug dealing and sexual assault of young men—charges never brought based on unreliable witnesses and missing files. Ladd, along with Adam Lynch and Brian Johnson, reported many ignored issues with Melton through the campaign and his four years in office.

Lynch's report about him taking teenagers and cops on the JPD Mobile Command Center to bust up the house of a mentally ill man with sledgehammers landed Melton in both state and federal trials. Ladd’s narratives about her ride-alongs on the Mobile Command Center with Melton and friends is among the JFP’s most discussed work. Melton was not convicted before he died, but authorities did remove many young men who were living in the troubled alcoholic's home, which the JFP considered a major win on behalf of the young people of Jackson.

Two Lakes Coverage

Donna Ladd and Adam Lynch's coverage revealed many things about an ambitious “flood control” development for the Pearl River, including who was involved, who owned land in the footprint, who had quietly given money to a pro-lakes mayoral candidate, the full environmental concerns and much more. The project soon halted, and now a scaled-back “One Lake” project has replaced it, which we are tracking.

Michelle Byrom On, and Off, Death Row

One of the JFP’s most viral stories ever was the work of Ronni Mott in uncovering the questionable prosecution of Michelle Byrom, on death row in the state for 14 years for killing her husband, who had abused her. National and local media covered the story after Mott broke it in March 2014, showing that her son had confessed in writing how he had killed his father—evidence that the prosecutor did not present to the jury. The courts soon reversed her death sentence, which is very rare.

Focus: Domestic Abuse

Throughout the JFP’s 15 years, we have focused much attention on the until-then little-reported issue of domestic and interpersonal violence in the state, especially against women, through powerful narratives about victims such as Heather Spencer and Doris Shavers. Ronni Mott did much of that reporting with multiple long-form stories about various aspects of the problems, including many potential solutions. The annual JFP Chick Ball—which has been on hiatus since 2015 due to other projects—raised money and awareness about the issues.

In related coverage, Mott and intern Sophie McNeil investigated and broke the story of pardons that then-Gov. Haley Barbour granted to several murderers, all of whom had brutally killed women, wives or partners—which most local media ignored then, even as our work attracted national media attention. Four years later, Barbour pardoned a longer list of criminals, including domestic murderers, on his way out of office, then attracting wide media attention. But the JFP was there first, even if few cared then.

HB 1523 and LGBT Rights in Mississippi

From Adam Lynch’s early work on Ceara Sturgis to Arielle Dreher’s recent and stellar coverage of House Bill 1523, the Jackson Free Press has led the state’s media on in-depth coverage of discrimination against LGBT residents of Mississippi. Federal cases winding through the courts have cited our work, especially Dreher's, numerous times, and her feature on homeless LGBT youth, was a finalist for a GLAAD media award. Along with our embrace of the “If You’re Buying, We’re Selling” campaign, started locally, the JFP has led on mainstreaming coverage of LGBT rights in the state.

Mississippi Defeats Personhood

On Nov. 8, 2011, Mississippi stunned the nation by defeating the Personhood amendment, which would not only have outlawed abortion here, but birth-control pills, the IUD and even threatened in vitro fertilization. For nearly a year before the vote, the JFP led the Personhood coverage with a team of reporters including Valerie Wells, Lacey McLaughlin and Elizabeth Waibel, reporting on all aspects of the issue, from the constitutional to the medical. We also elevated the “Grassroots Mamas” in our pages—mothers in and near Jackson who led the social-media fight to educate woman and men of all political stripes about the dangers of Personhood.

Following the Money and Shining a Light

When the JFP launched in 2002, nobody around here paid much attention to political action committees or campaign finance in general. (Other media were too busy supporting tort reform.) We changed this, from our push to unearth a secret Better Jackson PAC angling for Two Lakes development, to multiple mayoral races, to the white Republican-black Jackson leadership that established PACs to keep Chris McDaniel out of the U.S. Senate, to the various shadowy PACs that worked to defeat Initiative 42 to require full MAEP funding. We’ve proudly worked to reveal truth at all angles while some other media pay more attention to campaign finance, and that’s a win, although state law and enforcement has a long way to go.

Exposing Haley Barbour

We can’t swear it, but we believe that our deep investigations into Haley Barbour—pushing the “southern strategy,” pitting Mississippi against Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina, diverting Coast housing funds to a port, his criminal pardons, his family’s iffy race history in Yazoo City, his deregulate-nursing-home PAC work, his lobbying clients/income, his pushing of a mythical “jackpot justice” crisis, and more—eventually helped knock him out of consideration for a White House run.

Shattering Confederate Myths

Ever since Donna Ladd published her Trent Lott cover story back in 2002, detailing the “southern strategy” of courting the racist vote to Mississippi, the JFP has stayed the course on filling in gaps in knowledge on basic history of why Mississippi and the South seceded (to preserve and extend slavery), and what all those Confederate memorials, including the state flag, really stand for. Hundreds of people have thanked us for exposing primary sources that shatters myths—and the work has gone viral with the national awareness of racism in recent years. See the work at jfp.ms/slavery.

Preventing Violence

The work we’re probably the proudest of at this point is our effort to find causes and solutions to violence in Jackson over the last two years. The work, which John Jay College of Criminal Justice fellowships and Solutions Journalism Network grants supported, has gone deep into the myriad causes of youth crime—and vetted potential solutions. Our coverage won many awards in the last year and continues.

Our favorite result of this initiative is how often we're now in public dialogues about crime and violence, and the word "solutions" is the most common word; this just did not used to happen. We also have many related conversations about the work, from the Mississippi FBI director to elected officials. Dig in at jfp.ms/preventingviolence.

Hurricane Katrina

We are very proud of our Hurricane Katrina coverage—which ranged from a weeks-long "Triage Blog" (no longer on site) to connect resources with people who needed help, to on-the-ground narratives about the destruction and human pain, to investigations of how Gov. Haley Barbour, his family and others dealt with funds and grants in the aftermath of the disaster.

Work We Wish Had Worked

The JFP also did deep, award-winning coverage of several topics that did not change the problem. We wished it had. Here are a few examples:

With the potential for a state takeover of the Jackson Public School District looming, its board of trustees voted to allow the local PTAs and community to rename three elementary schools in the district named for Confederate generals and leaders at its regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday night.

Davis IB Elementary is named for Confederate President Jefferson Davis; George Elementary for Confederate Col. James Zachariah George, who signed the state’s secession ordinance; and Lee Elementary honors Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.

Board member Jed Oppenheim, who telephoned into the meeting, presented a motion toward the end of the meeting to hand off authority from the board to local PTAs, through processes they develop, to change the school names. Acting Board President Camille Simms asked to include the broader community in the motion to be part of the process as well.

“I put the process into the motion and given that if there’s potentially a takeover and we don’t have time to meet, this motion addresses that,” Oppenheim told the Board. “The motion addresses the process that they could take: that the PTAs with the communities at those schools will decide what those names are.”

The elementary schools should have new names in place by the 2018-2019 school year, Oppenheim's motion said. Initially, Oppenheim got some pushback, as Simms said he and board member Letitia Simmons-Johnson could work on a draft template in their committee.

Board attorney Dorian Turner questioned the motion because it seemed to conflict with existing JPS Board policy that says name changes require a unanimous vote from the school board.

“I wouldn’t tell you that it's illegal to do it, but I would tell you that it would be questionable, and if it were questioned later on, or quite frankly, if one of the names the local PTAs comes up with (is) something you wouldn’t have gone along with, you would have essentially given away your authority to question that (and) to not approve that,” Turner told the board. “And the question is whether or not you ought to be giving away that authority and discretion now.”

Turner also noted that the decision “would certainly be subject to the conservator coming in and (could possibly) undo it if that ends up being the case.”

Board members voted unanimously on the motion, handing off power to the three elementary schools, the community and their local PTAs to change their school names.

Oppenheim also introduced a motion to put a moratorium on out-of-school suspensions for students in Pre-K to third grade. That motion did not pass due to conflicting problems with the Student Code of Conduct, which would also need to be changed, and the administrative procedures in place to address student discipline.

The next regularly scheduled meeting for the JPS Board of Trustees is Oct. 3. If Gov. Phil Bryant decides to declare a state of emergency in the district, the JPS Board of Trustees will be disbanded and the Mississippi Board of Education will assume control of the district.

Read more about the potential takeover of JPS at jacksonfreepress.com/jpsstakeover. Read more about the controversy over Confederate memorials and statues at jfp.ms/confeds.

]]>Arielle DreherWed, 20 Sep 2017 18:32:06 -0500http://jacksonfreepress.com/news/2017/sep/20/jacksons-confederate-named-schools-may-change-afte/Jackson's Creative Pulse: What Has Changed Since 2002, What Is Still Aheadhttp://jacksonfreepress.com/news/2017/sep/20/jacksons-creative-pulse-what-has-changed-2002-what/

When this newspaper started 15 years ago this week, promising a rising creative class in Jackson on its cover, the capital city was a different place that nearly everyone said they wanted to leave. Jackson was the butt of suburban jokes, and its champions were always on the defensive. Not fun.

Two of the largest buildings in what is now Jackson's hottest neighborhood, Fondren Corner and Duling School, were empty. The Dickies building in downtown Jackson was vacant. The King Edward Hotel and the Standard Life building were shells of what they used to be. The Mississippi Museum of Art was in a much smaller space, the Art Garden was a parking lot, Jackson State University wasn't yet renovated, and midtown, south and west Jackson had seen far better days.

Over the years, city leaders and developers have entertained and flirted with a lot of development projects and ideas—some good and some bad, some that never happened, some that are still in the works—that have transformed the city into the both beautiful and blighted one that it is today.

Here is a look at what's changed and what still needs work.

Fondren's Revival

When Mike Peters was looking to buy Fondren Corner, he says the building was completely abandoned. A bank in Miami had foreclosed on it, so it had sat vacant for almost four years.

"We kind of just made a ridiculous offer to the lender, and the next thing we knew, they said, 'We'll take it,'" he says.

Near the end of renovations for Fondren Corner, which opened in 2004, Peters set his sights on renovating the nearby Duling School, which reopened as the multi-use Fondren Point building around 2007.

Peters says that he had noticed signs of economic progress in the Fondren area. Residential areas such as Woodland Hills were improving; Nejam Properties bought what is now known as Fondren Village; a few years ago, Peters Realty sold the property where Cups Espresso Cafe in Fondren is located, and the new owners brought in Fondren Public and expanded the Cups space. A new generation of artists were coming onto the city's art scene.

In 2003, artist Ginger Williams-Cook taught studio art at Camp Windhover in Crystal Springs, Miss., where she met artist Josh Hailey, who was teaching ceramics at the camp. On a 24-hour break, she and Hailey took a road trip to Jackson, where Williams-Cook met Jason "Twiggy" Lott and William Goodman.

"We immediately clicked, and talked about art, and talked about how that's all we wanted to do was be artists," she says.

Williams-Cook says that at the time, Goodman was living in Belhaven but was preparing to move into Fondren Corner, which was in mid-construction at that time. She began to collaborate with Goodman, Hailey and Lott, including on large-scale canvases for Fondren Corner's new apartment tenants, art for the tables and walls at Rooster's, and the first mural at Walker's Drive-in. Williams-Cook moved back to Jackson in 2004 and got a studio in Fondren Corner.

"It was just this really cool community of people that valued each other's talents, and services and so you really felt the sense of community," she says now.

That same year, Hailey moved there, and other artists and creatives such as videographer Jason Marlow began to move in.

"We just had this hub ... of different artists," Williams-Cook says.

A college professor had told her that she didn't necessarily have to go to L.A. or New York to make art. "Go wherever you find a creative pulse," he told her.

Fondren was where she found the creative pulse, she says, and the prominence of the neighborhood's art scene served as one catalyst to build the city's art scene as a whole.

daniel johnson, who does not capitalize his name, says the biggest difference in the creative community between 13 to 15 years ago and now is that audiences are connecting better. Back then, he says, audiences from rock shows would not necessarily attend hip-hop shows, and people who went to art galleries would not also go to dance performances. But today, businesses like Offbeat create space for many of the creative communities in Jackson, he says.

Mississippi Museum of Art Director Betsy Bradley says she has seen pockets of activity over the 30 years that she has been involved in the arts community. Now, though, the pockets have become more integrated into Jackson's economic and neighborhood development.

"What's going on in midtown, you can't imagine it happening if there weren't artists and creative people over there working all day every day," she says. "... The way that those efforts are helping shape neighborhoods is exciting."

More Entrepreneurs Now

Funmi "Queen" Franklin, who owns business incubator the Kundi Compound in midtown with her husband, Brad "Kamikaze" Franklin, has noticed a rise in Jacksonians becoming entrepreneurs, and also the growth of the progressive and creative demographics in Jackson.

"People are very involved in state and national politics, and there seems just to be an overall blanket of care that maybe hadn't been as prevalent before," she says. " ... It seems like the driving force to see change has grown over the last couple of years, maybe 10 years, and it seems to be going forward in years. People seem to just care a little bit more."

She says that more people are also creating more businesses, these days, it's not so much brick-and-mortar; its people tapping into their talents and building on them.

"There is a network and movement going on to support and encourage that in the city," she says.

Brad says that he has seen the creative and artistic scenes blossom not just in a traditional creative sense, but also in that they have become economic drivers in the city.

"Our arts and our creative community now is one such that it is drawing people into the city," he says.

One thing he has seen change is the comedy scene, which local comedienne Rita Brent says is why she has been able to have a successful career as an entertainer.

"From my perspective as an entertainer, the city is growing," she says.

Downtown: Down , Up

Fifteen years ago, the King Edward Hotel was still decaying after 30 years of being left vacant, and the picturesque Standard Life building only housed the Jackson Police Department, with most of the rest of the space unused.

That year, HRI Properties approached David Watkins about turning the King Edward into a luxury hotel. The company received a $2-million loan from the Mississippi Development Authority to do selective demolition, test the building's structural integrity and remove the asbestos that had accumulated. It got another $3.5 million in a community-development block grant for furniture, fixtures and equipment, and then tax credits and private investments for the rest of the funds.

After $90 million in renovations, the King Edward reopened as a 186-room Hilton Garden Inn and a luxury apartment complex in 2009 with many locals just walking into the lobby and staring in disbelief at a transformation many said would never happen. Then, Watkins set his sights on the Standard Life building, and nine months later, it reopened with 76 apartments and 2,671 square feet of retail space.

Ironically, it was around the time of the King Edward and Standard Life renovations and Fondren's Renaissance that downtown slowly began to lose businesses.

"You had like, four or five major, major Jackson businesses leave downtown," Peters says. That included Butler Snow, HORNE CPA & Business Advisors and Cellular South (now known as CSpire). "All of that happened over the course of (about) 24 to 36 months, and it just really ... damaged downtown," he says.

daniel johnson moved to Jackson from Houston, Texas, when he was 13 to a house just north of Siwell Road right outside the city limits. Fifteen to 20 years ago, he would go to the Living Room Coffee House & Grainery Cafe on Capitol Street across from the bus station, nestled in a business strip with The Library and the Midnight Sun.

"That little strip between Mill Street and Gallatin Street was kind of the nightlife that I knew of in downtown Jackson," he says. "Stephen Barnette (a co-founder of the Jackson Free Press) was hosting raves in the back of the Living Room in the Starplex Amphitheater; Chane's store was there."

Eighteen years ago, he says the Java Parlor opened up on the other end of Capitol Street, and Downbeat Grooves & Gear opened east of the King Edward.

"You had this Capitol Street thing kind of happening, where you might actually walk from one end of the other in downtown in the course of an evening," he says.

These days, the nightlife scene is much less active. "I walked a group from the King Edward to (Underground) 119 back in May, and they were from all over the nation, and couldn't believe how dark it was," johnson says.

However, restaurants, both chains and locally owned ones, now populate the area, and earlier this year, a candy store, Sugar Ray's Sweet Shop, opened across from the King Edward Hotel in 2016, and a convenience store named Downtown Snack Shop opened in 2016 across from what used to house concert venue Big Sleepy's. After Big Sleepy's closed on Jan. 1, Cowboy's Saloon later took its place.

A little ways from the King Edward, the Capitol Art Lofts, which BlackWhite Development proposed in 2013, is poised to open this month. The Westin Hotel on Congress Street opened in August.

"(Downtown) is just now, in my opinion, finding their way kind of back out of the bottom and starting to rise back slowly again," Peters says. "They've got a ways to go, but they're coming back."

Making Master Plans

Midtown has long experienced fits and starts, but it has been on the rise over the last 15 years. Community organization Midtown Partners first formed as the North Midtown Development Corporation in 1995 to socially and economically revitalize the neighborhood, which was a prominent African American neighborhood in its heyday.

About 10 years ago, NMCDC launched a master-planning process with Duvall Decker Architects.

Duvall Decker's research in the master plan shows that when the planning process began, the neighborhood had 30 businesses, three churches, seven educational facilities, two parks, six nonprofits and two major institutions—Millsaps College and Baptist Hospital.

Architect Roy Decker says Duvall Decker has worked in neighborhoods in Jackson that have been affected by suburban flight for the last 20 years.

"That's been ongoing since the '70s, and neighborhoods have suffered. There's been more and more abandoned properties, higher crime; there's been derelict buildings, and so neighborhoods have been suffering in Jackson," he says.

Prior to Duvall Decker getting involved, Decker says that the neighborhood had built 200 Habitat for Humanity Houses, so people were getting into good housing and out of poverty. But property values were still dropping, the neighborhood still had crime and drug problems, and people were still abandoning properties.

"That master plan was an effort to think about urban redevelopment, inner-city redevelopment, in a different way," he says. "Rather than draw a picture of a nostalgic, new version of what used to be there, our approach was, 'Well, let's find out what's valuable here; let's found out who lives here; let's find out what the stories are and what the stakeholders really are; and let's also study the economy of the land.'"

As a neighborhood becomes more and more vacant, he says, property values drop, and that means home and business owners cannot borrow money, and a person could end up owing more than the value of the house, trapping them in the mortgage. He says the midtown master plan was a way to change the way developers think about urban planning besides just providing more single-family housing, and to try to strategically intervene in the neighborhood and increase the density.

The research identified five strategic initiatives that would improve midtown: housing, health, making midtown a mixed-use neighborhood, improving safety and security, and ecological planning, including a diverse, energy-efficient neighborhood and addressing flood-control needs.

After the completion of the master plan, NMCDC and Good Sam became one entity—Midtown Partners. The neighborhood began partnering with Millsaps College's Else School of Management on projects such as business incubators The Hatch and The Hangar, and getting businesses such as Lucky Town Brewing Company into the neighborhood.

Midtown Partners has also rolled out projects such as Midtown Public charter school and Decker says Midtown Partners is working on a plan to expand the parks and schoolyards by Brown Elementary School and Rowan Middle School. The neighborhood now has 42 more houses, including sustainably built housing and renovations to existing housing, and midtown also has a health center.

The plan, Decker says, was to encourage growth so homeowners could begin borrowing money and fix their houses or buy the lots next to them, and get new homeowners in the neighborhood. He says that has happened in the last year.

While artists such as Josh Hailey have had residencies at The Hatch, three food businesses—Sweet & Sauer, Mississippi Cold Drip Coffee & Tea Co. and FEAST Specialty Foods—currently occupy the space. The Hangar is home to businesses such as Kamie's Kreations, The Reclaimed Miles and Red Squared Productions.

Over the last few years, businesses like comic-book shop Offbeat, wellness- and creativity-centered business Jax-Zen, and exhibition space AND Gallery have opened in midtown.

Duvall Decker applied the strategy in the midtown master plan to the west Jackson master plan, spending about a year talking to residents and neighborhood associations and community institutions and stakeholders and develop a grassroots initiative and understanding.

Decker says that the plan in west Jackson is newer, completed about a year and a half ago, so it has not had as much time to mature into projects. However, Decker says that Jackson State University is using it to secure grants in community-development projects, and neighborhood organizations have been contacting Duvall Decker to understand some of the data better.

"We see good things coming out of that, too," he says.

With JSU Goes Jackson

Margaret Walker Center Director Robert Luckett lived in Jackson until the second grade, when his family moved to Rankin County. He left the area in 1995. In 2009, he returned to be a history professor at JSU and to take his position at the Margaret Walker Center, and for the first time as an adult, he was going to live in the city. He says that the day he went on campus for his job interview, JSU's transformation blew him away.

"It was great to see what Jackson State had evolved into and to be coming into a new part of the future Jackson State," he says. "I knew very well that as Jackson State went so did the city of Jackson, as one of the largest employers, as the primary educator of particularly black Jacksonians but also the primary source of education for black teachers in Jackson Public Schools, the role of Jackson State in the city of Jackson is a high one."

The changes included new housing and campus expansion. One University Place, which is at the corner of Dalton and Lynch Streets and is the largest private development in west Jackson in 30 years, opened in 2010. Along with apartments, the building also houses businesses such as Gallery1, which has had art exhibits that featured the likes of artists such as funk legend George Clinton.

In 2012, the campus' welcome center opened. JSU also opened a satellite campus in Madison. In 2014, the university adopted EKO the Sumatran tiger at the Jackson Zoo as a way to help the zoo increase its membership. The arch in front of the exhibit at the zoo has been painted blue and white.

Medical Booms

Though areas of the city such as downtown began to decline economically 15 years ago, the city's health-care industry began to thrive. The Jackson Medical Mall began renovations in 1996 and opened its first clinic in 1997. Now it is home to health-care services, University of Mississippi Medical Center offices, retail shops and commercial services, and more.

"The Jackson Medical Mall, over the past 15 years, has become a stable entity that really is a model nationwide for what you can do with large-scale empty architecture," johnson says. "... Now they're at a point where they're expanding beyond traditional medical services and their mission of holistic wellness that includes housing and economic empowerment."

In 2016, the mall held a grand opening for the East Village Estates, which is comprised of 44 single-family townhomes that low-income residents can lease for 15 years, in the Prosperity Street and Homestead Heights community. After the 15 years is up, they have the opportunity to buy the houses at $50,000 fully financed. The medical mall also opened retail space Woodrow Wilson Place in 2016.

UMMC has also expanded its services and campus. In 2003, the hospital began its first telehealth project with three pilot hospitals. UMMC's Center for Telehealth now has locations across Mississippi and offers care in areas such as radiology, dermatology and pediatric services.

In 2014, the hospital opened the Memory Impairment and Neurodegenerative Dementia Center, which is dedicated to discovering treatments and cures for Alzheimer's disease and related forms of dementia, and the University Physicians Pavilion. This year, the hospital started its UNACARE Health Clinic in midtown.

The medical center is currently one of the largest employers in the state of Mississippi with more than 10,000 part- and full-time employees. UMMC currently represents 10 percent of the Jackson metro area economy and 2 percent of the state's economy.

A Culture Corridor

Earlier this year, colorful lights and light-centered exhibits took over downtown's "culture corridor"—the intersection of Pascagoula and Lamar streets where the Mississippi Museum of Art, Arts Center of Mississippi, Thalia Mara Hall, Russell C. Davis Planetarium and Jackson Convention Complex sit. The first annual Mississippi Light Festival created chaos, but in a good way.

Children and adults stood around an area where a woman performed scientific demonstrations that consisted of mostly blowing things up; models in neon body paint glowed as they danced in the windows of the Jackson Convention Complex; people trailed around the arts center, looking at all the different lights and exhibits and taking selfies; graffiti art danced on the back of the building; and light exhibits covered the Art Garden.

The event even created a rare traffic jam in downtown Jackson.

The museum also hosts Third Thursday each month, bringing in food trucks, artists, local people and more for exhibits, movie screenings, music, food and fellowship.

Fifteen years ago, events like the light festival and Third Thursday probably would not have been possible. The art museum had been in the arts center space for 24 years, and museum Director Betsy Bradley said it had outgrown that space.

"We had the upstairs gallery, and the atrium, and all of our staff was over there," she says. "... We needed more exhibition space, we needed more storage space, we needed more state of the art technology in terms of climate control and security and things like that."

The museum began looking at the different options, including looking at spaces outside of downtown Jackson and even contemplating building a new space from the ground up. After the initiative for the convention center passed in 2004, Bradley says that they knew that it would want to remain part of the cultural complex and strengthen Jackson's attractiveness.

The building where the art museum is now was vacant. The city, which owns the building, had used it for exhibitions, office spaces and temporary courtrooms, so the museum decided to look into renovating the space for a new art museum. It took $15 million to renovate the building and another $5 million to create the Art Garden, which, back then, was just a parking lot. Bradley says that museum management felt that the garden could be a connecting space between the arts center, art museum and Thalia Mara Hall, and it would also add a green space to downtown Jackson.

"We felt like this was kind of a gift we could give to downtown and to the city," Bradley says. "It also served as a kind of beautiful, interesting way to approach the museum."

In 2007, the Mississippi Museum of Art moved to its new space, and in 2011, the museum completed the Art Garden.

In 2009, the Jackson Convention Complex opened. Beginning in 2013, Thalia Mara Hall received $5 million in renovation, including getting updating the HVAC unit, new chairs, carpet, restroom renovations and better compliance with Americans with Disabilities Act standards. Since Thalia Mara's reopening in 2014, the venue has hosted events such as the USA International Ballet Competition, the Experience Hendrix tour and more.

The Foodie Scene

In the last 15 years, Jackson has significantly upped its foodie game, with new, mostly locally owned restaurants frequently coming and going.

In 1994, Jeff Good and Dan Blumenthal opened BRAVO! Italian Restaurant & Bar. In 1998, the duo opened Broad Street Baking Company, and in 2007, they opened Sal & Mookie's New York Pizza & Ice Cream Joint.

Good and Blumenthal have been in the business since the early '90s so they've been able to watch the food scene grow and change.

"The food scene (today) is vibrant," Good says. "A lot of young talent across the board has started to develop, and I'm very excited that so many have been able to gain capital to open their own concepts and bring their talents to market."

Over the years, he says, people have been concerned that the development has been mainly in northeast Jackson and the suburbs, but he has also seen the south and west Jackson food scenes grow.

Asked the reason for the push toward locally owned restaurants, Good points toward the upward trend in restaurant development over the last decade. People are eating out more, so there's a higher demand for restaurants, he says. While Jackson has followed that trend, he says, we're also a relational city and enjoying knowing business owners.

"The rise of the independents in our community comes from a willing and accepting populace," Good says. "Jackson is not a city of transients. We're not a city that has a myriad of corporate offices, and people are coming and going and following their career paths, and they do their three to five years, and they're out."

It's a different area than places such as south Florida or metropolitan Texas. "We're a hometown, and we like hometown heroes," Good says.

Mississippi Museum of Art Culinary Director and The Palette Cafe Executive Chef Nick Wallace says the food scene developed from people developing their palates and also competition.

"That has pretty much changed where we are from the last decade," he says.

He says that Mississippi is becoming a food state.

"I think we all are seeing food a little bit differently and knowing how important food is," he says. "I think we had a delay of people not knowing where their roots came from, then all of the sudden in the last decade, you hear about ... farm-to-table."

He says that people lost that connection to food, but now we are back on track and headed straight up.

"I think that goes from the Delta, that goes all the way to the Oxford area, and to the city of Jackson as well," he says.

What Needs to Change

Former Ward 6 City Councilman Tyrone Hendrix, who was born and raised in Jackson and whose parents met at JSU, says that though the city has changed for the better in some ways, in other ways, it's remained the same.

"I think we're still dealing with a lot of the same issues that we have been fighting and for and advocating for since (2002)," he says. That includes fighting for public-school funding, improving infrastructure, and attracting and retaining businesses in the area.

However, Hendrix believes that Jackson is a stronger community than back then, "probably because ... the things that we're fighting for have caused us to come together," he says.

One example, he says, is how the community has come together during the state's recent move to take over Jackson Public Schools.

"With the issues we've had around the JPS takeover, I've been very encouraged to see a lot of the community partners come together around this one particular point," he says. "I'm hoping that we can use this momentum to work on other things together around Jackson."

As someone who has been in the south Jackson community for about 22 years, he says that he has watched the area change in many ways in the last two decades, including the flipped demographics. Once, it was a neighborhood that was 90 percent white, but now it's 90 percent black, he says, and the change in the housing stock. Ten to 15 years ago, he says, the houses in south Jackson were more expensive, but now the prices have dropped.

He says that while areas such as Fondren and Belhaven have flourished, neighborhoods such as south Jackson have deteriorated. For example, Metrocenter Mall is not the same, though businesses such as Next Level Entertainment are working to revitalize the mall, which also houses some City offices.

"Things never stay the same," Crudup says. "They should change, but we always hope that they can change for the better and not the worse. So far, we just haven't seen the best things in Jackson yet."

One way to tackle our issues, he says, is for everyone to come together and come up with a plan for Jackson, from the north to the south side. "We need to have a full plan of what goes where," he says.

johnson says he would like to see more development in south Jackson. While the rest of the city has developed, that neighborhood has remained mostly stagnant.

A dwindling population and changing racial makeup mean that a lot of development has moved out of south and west Jackson, though west Jackson is slowly seeing improvements. But johnson says that the community of south Jackson is still vibrant. For example, community members still go to the tennis courts on McDowell Road and give free lessons to kids every Saturday, he says.

"It's still an active, thriving community of people," he says.

However, development dollars have pulled out of south Jackson.

"(South Jackson is) still in need of anchor businesses and enough population," johnson says. "It's not like it's empty. They've got a threshold population that I think support local business, and there's some there, but ... I'd love to see some more dollars down there."

Brad Franklin says that over the years, Jacksonians have becoming more civically engaged, and the younger generation is now a group that questions, challenges and stands up against injustices. However, there's a political hierarchy needs to continue to change, he says.

"We still have some of the same faces; we still have some of the same names; we still have some of the same ideologies that existed 15 years ago, and it's making it difficult for Jackson to be able to turn the page because their ideology is old, and it's outdated," Franklin says. "It's time now for a new generation, and a new thought process, a new younger, modern, more updated thought process to take a hold politically around here."

Maranda Joiner, the public-relations specialist for My Brother's Keeper, says that in the last few years, the morale and support for one another have shifted. The city has organizations that are extremely supportive of things that are happening in Jackson, she says, but a lot of that tends to happen in silos.

"What I would like to see happen with the city is that feeling that I get when I'm with my individual groups of friends or organizations to happen as a whole in the city and for that to be seen outside of the city," she says.

Wallace points to another issue in Jackson: Our food scene is on the rise, but we are being more segregated when it comes to food.

"You don't really have a mixed bag, like a truly mixed back of different cuisines," he says. "South (Jackson) looks like south. Some of your northeast parts look like northeast, and west looks like west. I would love to see Jackson bring all those things together and everybody work together.

"The cultures and all are shying away from each other, versus I think that it looks even better, and it comes off the right way because everybody equally wins when everybody is in a mixed bag kind of situation."

Wallace says that a way to change this would be different organizations having open business meetings. "People have to be openly open to this stuff, too," he says.

Civil Rights and Social Justice

Jackson also still has to deal with the repercussions of the Civil Rights Movement and social justice.

Over the last few years, the city of Jackson has shown that it is willing to address those issues, from local organizations such as Dialogue Jackson hosting dialogue circles to address issues of race and inequity to the night the Jackson City Council unanimously passed a resolution against House Bill 1523, an intersectional statement that might not have happened in Jackson 15 years ago when the JFP initially took flack from some in Jackson for featuring gay and lesbian couples in the newspaper.

Since Mayor Chokwe A. Lumumba took office in July, everyone is looking to the new administration to see how they will make Jackson better.

"I'm really attracted to Mayor Lumumba, his economic take on kind of an all-of-the-above strategy that includes traditional ... developers but also looking at cooperative business models," johnson says.

Currently, Rita Brent is working on a documentary about the hidden gems and jewels in Jackson, and says that through that, she has been able to discover pieces of the city.

She says that it was through her work on the documentary that she got to take a tour of the Medgar Evers home, the Smith Robertson Museum and Cultural Center, and AND Gallery, which two local artists, Adrienne Domnick and Tyler Tadlock, own.

"When it comes to the city, all you hear is coverage of crime, which is important ... but I think a good balance would be helpful to change the narrative and the image of the city," Brent says.

The comic says that one of the ways people are working to change the narrative of Jackson is through social media with the hashtags #wearejackson and #goodthingsjackson. She says that it is impactful when people see good things in Jackson.

It sure beats focusing on the negative. And that is probably the biggest change now—some still bash Jackson, but the center of gravity for the Jackson metro is now back exactly where it belongs: right in the middle of the capital city.

EDITOR'S NOTE: We took out the section on the Farish Street controversy pending further updates on the project.

CORRECTION: In the original version of this story, we misspelled the name of local business Kamie's Kreations as Kamie's Creations. Also, Stephen Barnette was doing lighting for raves at the Starplex Amphitheater, not throwing them.

CLARIFICATION: In the story, we quoted daniel johnson as saying that Jackson hip-hop audiences would not attend rock shows 15 years ago, when he had said the reverse was true.

After meeting with Mayor Chokwe A. Lumumba this morning, Gov. Phil Bryant said today that he does not plan to "rush judgment" on the Mississippi Board of Education's proposal to take over Jackson Public Schools, which awaits his signature.

"We're not going to rush the judgment on this. This is a very important decision that will be made. I certainly respect the (state) board's decision to send me that request for emergency, but we are going to make sure that we know exactly what the condition of the city of Jackson public school system is now—that that wasn't just a snapshot that occurred," Bryant told reporters at the Capitol this morning.

"We'll make a decision when we feel comfortable that we have completed our due diligence."

The governor was at the Capitol this morning to announce the launch of a commemorative Coca-Cola bicentennial bottle, designed in honor of Mississippi's 200th birthday.

Bryant said he met with Lumumba this morning about the decision and met with JPS Interim Superintendent Freddrick Murray yesterday, calling him a "very impressive individual." Bryant said his staff is reviewing the Mississippi Department of Education's investigative audit as well as responses from the City of Jackson.

"Each time we take over a school, it's not something that I enjoy doing," Bryant told reporters. "It is a burden to our state; it is a burden to the (Mississippi) Department of Education—they have many duties they have to carry on so this will be an additional one. So absolutely, I am very careful about entering into any takeover by the state of Mississippi, and that is certainly not something I look forward to doing."

When asked about the federal lawsuit, which 30 JPS parents filed on Monday, and if it would hinder his timing, the governor said he did not think so but did say a judge could issue a stay that might affect that.

"What will more importantly affect my decision is what do we know? What does my staff have the opportunity to review? How comfortable do we feel that the proper steps have been taken?" Bryant said. "I have total confidence in Dr. (Carey) Wright and her staff, but again it is not a rubber stamp—this is something we are very careful about before we enter into a takeover of any school district." Carey Wright is the state superintendent of education.

The governor said that funding is not the issue; it is whether JPS "is a failing school system."

"I met with a delegation yesterday of legislators—House members and senators—and told them that this is on us," Bryant said. "A decade ago we should have been looking at the Jackson Public School system when we knew that it was not performing at the level that it should be and began to do something about it. Now, now that the alarm has been sounded, everyone wants to rush in: where were they when we needed them a decade ago?"

If the governor signs the "emergency" resolution from the state board, he will dissolve the JPS School Board of Trustees and install Dr. Margie Pulley as interim superintendent, ousting Murray. Bryant gave no indication on timing of when he would make a final decision.

"I think if the State does come over and take control, they will see very little change in their life," Bryant said of JPS families. "There will be no change at the local level—there may be some new principals or more teachers brought in, but the students will not see any difference nor will the parents."

Read more about the proposed takeover of JPS at jfp.ms/jpstakeover. Follow Arielle Dreher at @arielle_amara on Twitter for #jpstakeover updates.

Although new Ward 6 Councilman Aaron Banks is a new kid on the City Hall block, he is not new to Jackson. He served as a crime prevention officer for the Hinds County Sheriff's Department, a constituent services representative under Mayor Chokwe Lumumba Sr., a city clerk under Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. and as deputy chief administrative officer of quality of life under Mayor Tony Yarber for eight months.

Banks, 39, was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, to Barron Banks, a Presbyterian pastor from Tchula, Miss., and Patricia Banks, an educator and Jackson native. He graduated from Forest Hill High School and attended Jackson State University. Around his junior year, he traveled to colleges such as Alcorn State University and University of Southern Mississippi to host Bible studies.

Banks left JSU and took some prerequisite courses for pastoral studies at Wesley Bible College. He was certified as a Christian counselor by the American Association of Christian Counselors in 2007. After the birth of his third child, he continued his education online at Walden University and received a bachelor's degree in political science. He began working on a master's in public administration and public policy but decided to postpone his studies, due to time constraints from the 2017 election season.

He talked to the JFP about the new mayor, the city budget, crime and more.

How is it to work with the new mayor so far?

Well, I see my position as a council person may be somewhat different than how others may have traditionally viewed it. I understand the legislative authority, that we are checks and balances, and we help set the appropriation, or set the budget, or approve the budget for this mayor. However, I understand that the people ... supported him because of the vision he had. So, I am of the opinion that we need to give the mayor the space and the room to implement what he sees is necessary that will get this city on the right track.

Now, that does not mean that I'm OK with waste. That does not mean that I'm OK with fraud. That does not mean that I'm OK with any type of abuse. That does not mean that I'm OK with just frivolous spending. We gone put a check on it. And it has to make sense. When you look at him wanting to pay Dr. (Robert) Blaine what I feel is a worthy salary ($111, 538 a year), we have to keep in mind that the previous administration didn't pay the previous CAO at a CAO's level. He was paid at a director's level. I think that's why this council approved it—because we have to get him the space and the room to implement what he feels is best. Now, if things don't work out, then that's another discussion.

Are you more of a vocal councilman or an observer?

As time progressed and as I got my feet really settled with it, then I began to become more verbal. Not only that, I began to look at research and find issues.

For example, our zoo board, that we give a generous amount of money to—they've been meeting, and their meetings are not open to the public. And nobody knew that. So, I have a problem personally when we give (a requested) $1.5 million of our money to a board to help run the zoo, and they do not allow the public to (attend) the meetings. I think that anything that's government-oriented ought to be open to the public and as transparent as can be.

So, I raised that issue in the council meeting this week because I think Jackson has fallen victim to a lot of instances just like that. Where you have certain people that are making decisions in the room and then they get into the general public and act like nobody knows what happened.

What feedback are you getting in your ward?

Coming in, my focus was really going to be on blighted and dilapidated properties. I wanted to attack that head-on and be very aggressive. I was meeting with (Ward 2 Councilman Melvin) Priester so that we can work out a payment in lieu of taxes until we can address some of those issues.

But it's like as soon as we got in, issues of crime started just happening just like that ... . It really hit home and got personal for me because I have a church member, Tyler. Tyler's 11, and he was with his brother, and they saw a friend ... . He tried to rob them. They got into a tussle, and he ended up shooting the older brother in the foot, and he took off in the car with the younger brother in the backseat and the other one in the backseat, and they jumped out the vehicle. Luckily they were over there by Wingfield (High School), and the first house that he knocked on was actually a police officer... . When all that started happening, I had to take a turn in my priorities, and I said, 'We've got to be serious about addressing crime."

What is the council doing to respond to crime and blight?

The first thing we did was approve the budget ($366,186,588), which gives the mayor the authority to do what's necessary with public safety. Chief (Lee) Vance said that what he needed was to be able to increase the amount of officers that he had on the street, which would increase the amount of officers per beat (and) per shift.

In Ward 6, our biggest asset is our community. It's the property the people have abandoned, and we have a lot of blighted and dilapidated properties. And not just individual properties but business properties. And so, our aim is to continue to partner with faith-based community churches, nonprofits such as Habitat for Humanity, that are doing good work in south Jackson to rehab a lot of those houses and areas in my ward that could look like a war zone.

Both Councilmen Priester and (Charles) Tillman said good things about you and (new Ward 7 Councilwoman) Virgi Lindsay.

Sometimes I second-guess if I'm gone speak out on something because I don't know if I know everything that needs to be known. So, I appreciate people like Priester who's well versed on what's been going on. He turns to us and says, "So I want y'all to understand as newer council ..." that helps me get a bigger grasp of what's going on.

If I was to classify, I would say Priester is the brains of the council. I would say that Ashby Foote (Ward 1) is somewhat of the reason(er) of the council. (Ward 3's Kenneth) Stokes is like the German Shepherd of the council, and (Ward 5's De'Keither) Stamps is like the bulldog of the council. And Virgi is like the big sister (and) mother of the council. And I don't know, I guess I'm just there.

Jackson Public Schools started the week of Sept. 11 facing a possible takeover and ended with its fate in Gov. Phil Bryant's hands. The governor, who cut funding to Mississippi public schools earlier this year, must now decide whether or not the district is indeed in an "extreme emergency." If it is, per Bryant, the State will take control of the second-largest district in the state.

The governor told reporters this morning that he was not going to rush judgment on the takeover decision, noting it is something he does not enjoy doing.

"We're not going to rush the judgment on this. This is a very important decision that will be made. I certainly respect the (state) board's decision to send me that request for emergency, but we are going to make sure that we know exactly what the condition of the city of Jackson public school system is now—that that wasn't just a snapshot that occurred," Bryant told reporters at the Capitol this morning.

Sitting in the old Central High School building that closed in downtown Jackson just a few years after forced integration, both the Commission on School Accreditation and the Mississippi Board of Education voted last week to declare that an "extreme emergency" jeopardizes the safety, security and educational interest of JPS students enrolled in the majority-black district. If the governor signs the Board's resolution, he will abolish the school district, dissolve the current school board and install a new interim superintendent—Dr. Margie Pulley—whom the board approved in its meeting Sept. 14 with the current JPS interim superintendent in the room.

Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba said last week that he had met with State Superintendent Carey Wright about JPS and explained the efforts the City is willing to take to move the school system forward. Lumumba told #OurJPS supporters last week that the district being under a full investigative audit while working on a corrective action plan was "unprecedented."

The mayor alleged "nefarious intent" on behalf of MDE and the attempt to take over the school district. Wright never addressed reporters last week, even after the dust settled, instead sending her chief accountability officer and board chairwoman to speak to reporters after the vote.

Chairwoman Rosemary Aultman said the state board had the interests of the children in mind when they declared an emergency. Aultman said the board was urged from above to hire Pulley on that day.

"Our board acts on recommendations from the state superintendent and the leadership team, so that was the recommendation," Aultman told reporters last Wednesday. "And this was treated just like any other recommendation for an employee of the department or a contract employee." The board had not publicly announced Pulley as a possible candidate in open session or mentioned that it was considering a new superintendent, however, until they came out of executive session and announced their decision in front of JPS' interim superintendent, Freddrick Murray.

How We Got Here

JPS was on probation in recent years—for the first part of former superintendent Cedrick Gray's tenure. When Gray walked on the job, JPS was on probation for not providing adequate special education for students with behavioral and emotional disorders. By 2014, the district had its accreditation back, but its academic performance rating did not budge.

During Gray's tenure, the district maintained a "D" rating through 2015. While not moving quickly, things were hopeful. When MDE conducted a limited audit of JPS in April 2016, however, that hope started to fade. The audit revealed that JPS was in violation of 22 of the 32 accreditation policies, and the Commission on School Accreditation voted the district back to probation status in August.

At that time, the concerns of MDE officials focused on safety—from late buses to absent resource officers.

In the meeting when JPS went back on probation, the commission also approved a full investigative audit of the district, which MDE did not finish and release until Aug. 31, 2017, a year later.

In the meantime, the district worked to fix what the limited audit had found with corrective action plans. The district's first submitted plans were rejected on Nov. 10, less than two weeks after Gray offered his resignation in a swift exit on Nov. 1. In the meantime, the JPS board named Freddrick Murray interim superintendent immediately, while it decided what to do. MDE finally approved JPS' amended corrective action plans in mid-December.

The JPS board debated conducting a superintendent search—either state or nationwide—but could not come to an agreement. With the Christmas vacation over, and school started up again, the JPS Board voted to postpone any search or request for proposals from search groups. They left Murray at the helm in February, as the district continued to work on its correction active plan, or CAP.

JPS administrators contracted with the Bailey Education Group in April to ensure implementation of the district's corrective action plans. The $107,500 contract was supposed to ensure implementation of the district's CAP. The CAP administrator from Bailey was required to outline the process and timeline for the plan as well as provide weekly status reports to the interim superintendent, the contract shows.

In the Aug. 24 JPS School Board meeting, Dr. William Merritt told board members that the district was 90 percent complete on the CAP. A week later, MDE dropped a 680-page audit report, saying the district was out of compliance with 24 of the 32 process standards and that administrators were to report to the Commission on School Accreditation's meeting scheduled to be held in two weeks on Sept. 14.

JPS administrators brought binders full of rebuttals to the audit, and during their presentation time to both the commission and the board last week, they refuted parts of MDE's report and presentation where their data differed.

Murray maintained that while the district had work to do and faced challenges, it was not in an "emergency" situation. "What we've done in seven months is probably more than what was done in seven years," he told the commission last week.

Ultimately, MDE and JPS disagreed on graduation numbers and which facilities still needed emergency plans, but the discrepancies in data did not seem to matter to the state bodies.

'Loss of Local Control'

Nothing changes in the district for now, and it is up to Gov. Bryant to sign the State Board of Education's resolution. If he does, Dr. Pulley takes over, and the Mississippi Board of Education will govern the district—dissolving the JPS Board of Trustees and taking away the City's control.

The mayor now appoints school-board members, and city council members vote to approve each member. Each school-board member represents a different ward of the city. The current board is still three members shy after losing four members earlier this year. Former JPS board President Beneta Burt's term ended in June, and three other members vacated their positions before their terms expired to pursue other opportunities. Mayor Lumumba had not filled those three positions yet, which both state bodies discussed last week.

"How many board members are there at Jackson Public Schools?" Commission on School Accreditation member Eddie Prather asked on Sept. 13.

Murray told him there were enough members for a quorum and that Mayor Lumumba was working to fill the board. When he tried to defer to the mayor to fully answer the question, MDE's lawyer objected, citing the commission policy that only school-district officials, board members and their counsel can speak during hearings.

JPS attorney JoAnne Shepherd made sure to tell the Commission that the other three district board member vacancies were due to resignations.

Republicans pushed and passed a "Districts of Transformation" law in the statehouse this past session, which sets up the procedure JPS will now follow if taken over. It will have to maintain a "C" grade for five consecutive years before returning to local control, unless the state board determines the district is eligible sooner. MDE attorney Erin Meyer told the state board Sept. 14.

While JPS would lose local control if Bryant signs the state board's resolution, technically, the district is still on probation and has not lost its accreditation—yet. The Commission on School Accreditation can vote on the accreditation at its October meeting, MDE Chief Accountability Officer Paula Vanderford said last week.

If the district's accreditation is withdrawn, Vanderford said extracurricular activities would stay in place for at least a year. "From the day of the withdrawal of accreditation, (the policy) allows the district a period of one year to resolve the deficiencies before it has any impact on extracurricular activities. And after one year, it could reduce the extracurricular activities to 50 percent, but that's not until the one-year period has lapsed," the Rankin County resident said.

After a year, the district would be able to participate in no more than half of the regular season of any interscholastic activity including all sports teams, speech and debate, choral music and band. Cheerleading, drill and dance squads, band and choral music, and speech and debate teams would be able to participate in district or state contests, but not be eligible to receive ratings. After a year, the Office of Accreditation would pre-approve all schedules and participation in extracurricular activities, and no teams would be eligible for tournaments, post-season participation—unless MDE decides otherwise.

International Baccalaureate is not considered an extracurricular activity, MDE Communications Director Patrice Guilfoyle said, and it would be treated as an instructional program.

If JPS loses its accreditation, parents could also apply for transfers to different accredited school districts, which those district school boards must approve.

Jackson attorney Dorsey Carson, whose daughter attends McWillie Elementary in JPS, did not wait. Carson and 29 other parents sued Wright, Aultman and Heather Westerfield, the chairwoman of the Commission on School Accreditation on Monday, asking the federal court for an emergency petition for a temporary and permanent injunction on the takeover.

Lilli Evans Bass says that Jackson is and always will be home for her. That's why, even after receiving her law degree at the University of Mississippi in 2008, she decided to come home to practice law.

She started her own firm, Brown, Bass & Jeter, PLLC, with Katrina Brown and LaToya Jeter in August 2015.

Evans Bass, now 33, says she pursued a law degree at first because it would open up future career possibilities. With that degree she says she could become a judge, politician, banker, or of course, a lawyer.

"I knew it wasn't pinning me down to one thing in life, that I would have options," she says.

So far, Evans Bass has seen success as a lawyer. She is the current president of the Magnolia Bar Association and was appointed as the Yazoo City municipal judge in 2014.

After graduating with a bachelor's degree in political science from Tougaloo College in 2005 and her law degree at UM three years later, she started working as a clerk for former Mississippi Supreme Court Justice George Carlson. She then went to work at civil-defense law firm Currie, Johnson & Myers, where she and her current law partner Brown were the only two African American attorneys, she says.

"We would go to these minority events or diversity-type seminars, and we'd talk to other people from corporations or people we'd like to do work for, (and) they would always talk to us about diversity policies," Evans Bass says. "We would always run into these minority- and women-owned firms from other states, and we were like, 'You know, we might have more opportunities on our own.'"

Female-owned and -led law firms are less common around Jackson and around Mississippi as a whole, but Evans Bass says she and her partners decided to take the leap of faith, anyway.

"Clients we would like to develop a relationship with (would say) they really want a women-owned or minority-owned firm (to work with), and we all have the experience now," she says. "(We thought) 'If we don't do it now, we're never going to do it. Our kids will get older.' So we just did it."

Evans Bass says it was important to her to keep the firm in Jackson (it is on Lelia Drive off Lakeland Drive). She loves the city because she can see and has seen its growth. "I see the future," she says. "I've always wanted to live and work in Jackson."

She lives in Jackson with her daughter, Lorin, who is 5 years old, and husband, Ervin "E.J." Bass.

The Jackson Zoo is asking for donations in wake of its financial crisis due to budget cuts made in the past year.

At the Aug. 21 Jackson City Council budget hearing, the zoo's director, Beth Poff, presented a proposed budget of $1.5 million to the members and the mayor in order to cover the needs of the 100-year-old park and 375 living animals. Poff says the proposed budget for fiscal-year 2018 would allow the zoo to fill six positions that have remained frozen for four years.

Those positions include a director of education, three zookeepers, and two maintenance and grounds positions.

"Even though everyone puts their heart, soul and backs into it, the zoo looks tired and worn out. Landscaping is rough, (and) the keepers can barely keep up with taking care of the exhibits," Poff said in the council chambers.

The zoo's location in west Jackson is the main complaint she hears from Jacksonians, Poff said. Many people tell her that they do not feel safe in the area, which has declined in recent decades following flight of wealthier residents from the area, resulting in divestment and decay of nearby areas. The safety perceptions thus contribute to the decrease in attendance.

A few days following the budget hearing, controversy surrounding the possible relocation of the zoo circulated—some potential donors want it at the site of the old Smith-Wills stadium on Lakeland Drive near the recently named LeFleur Museum District, including the Mississippi Childrens Museum, even as others worry that would be just one more hit at a majority-black area already devastated by flight of residents and businesses.

EJ Rivers, media specialist for the Jackson Zoo, said there are no plans to move the zoo but that it cannot survive the 2018 year with the same financial status as 2017.

"We just told the City that's an option for the City. Not to necessarily move it out of Jackson but to move it to a better location, because this area has gotten so bad, and it's going to take so much to bring it up," Rivers told the Jackson Free Press this week. "And currently, this zoo as it stands, as old as it is, can't survive in that."

"We're trying to look at options as a long-term thing, and we're talking with the City because we are the Jackson Zoo," she said.

Closed Meetings Questioned

Rivers says that the City is required to provide the zoo with at least $880,000 annually, but the zoo is hoping for more. "I think our normal operating is $2.5 million, and we always ask for $1.5 to $1.2 million from the City, and last year we got $880,000," Rivers said. "It's been dropping a little every year, and right now they are in talks with the mayor and city council about what the budget's going to be for 2018."

New Ward 6 City Councilman Aaron Banks is among those who are criticizing the current zoo board of directors for holding non-public meetings, though, even as it requires City funds to survive.

"I have a problem personally (with giving) $1.5 million of our money to a board to help run the zoo, and they do not allow the public to (attend) the meetings. I think that anything that's government oriented ought to be open to the public and as transparent as can be," he told the Jackson Free Press in an interview.

But the zoo does not only rely on taxpayer funds; it also depends on sponsorships, admissions and private donors, including small ones.

"We're asking people around the metro Jackson area, whether they're members or regular donors, to donate an additional $10 this year just to kind of help out around the park with staff and animal care to make up for some of the shortfalls that we've experienced due to budget cuts," Rivers said.

The money goes into the zoo's general fund along with admissions revenue to raise funds for the end of fiscal-year 2017. The fund covers animal care such as feeding and vet bills. It also includes running the park, building maintenance. Donations are accepted online as well as in person.

"The number-one way to support the zoo is always to visit two or three times out of the year, because all of that money goes into the general fund," Rivers added.

Party to Defray Costs

Rivers said the zoo hosts three huge fundraisers annually that can help support the zoo's financial challenges: Zoo Brew, Ice Cream Safari and Zoo Party.

The Zoo Party is an adults-only formal gala at The South on Thursday, Sept. 28, at 7 p.m. Admission tickets are $75, and host tickets $200. The host tickets include early entry and a bourbon and rum tasting.

The "Safari Chic"-themed event will also feature live music, a bid on real ostrich eggs decorated by local artists, and a zoo-themed auction that includes behind-the-scenes encounters with "Big Mike" the rhino and the Sumatran tigers.

Rivers emphasizes that the financial holes are due to decreasing City funds, as well as larger sponsorships and lagging attendance.

"We're doing as well as we've always done on our end with our supporters who are absolutely fabulous. The additional funding that we usually get from the general public and from the City is what has dropped off this year and caused problems," Rivers said.

Both Zoo Brew and Zoo Party are $50,000 events. Usually revenue from those fundraisers goes toward new animals or exhibits but with budget cuts in the past few years, some revenue from fundraisers has gone towards the zoo's general fund.

Rivers said the zoo has cut normal operations such as repainting and landscaping were. The zoo is currently operating, and the staff is unaffected at the time, however. Animal care is a priority and always the last thing to be considered when determining financial cuts, she said.

Poff and the Jackson Zoo Board Directors are meeting with the mayor and city council on Tuesday, Sept. 19, and Wednesday, Sept. 20, to discuss the zoo's 2018 budgetary concerns.

Corrections: This story has been updated to reflect which fiscal years budget cuts are coming from. Additionally, a previous version of this story also misstated the Zoo's fundraising numbers. Both Zoo Brew and Zoo Party are $50,000 events, not $10,000 or $30,000 events. A previous version of this story also stated general funds cover staff meetings, they do not. The Zoo Party is scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 28, not Monday the 18th. We apologize for the errors. Read more about the zoo at jacksonzoo.org. Email William Kelly III at william@jacksonfreepress.com.

Mississippi Blues Marathon director John Noblin announced Monday, Sept. 18, that Continental Tire the Americas has signed on to serve as the presenting sponsor for the 11th annual race in Jackson on Jan. 27, 2018.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Mississippi, the event's previous presenting sponsor, announced just before the 2017 race that it would discontinue its sponsorship to concentrate resources on its own annual Kids' One-Mile Fun Run.

"This new sponsorship is several months in the works and just became final two weeks ago," Noblin told the Jackson Free Press. "We approached Continental about becoming our new sponsor this summer because, with it being an international company that's new to the area, we figured they would have the resources and that this would be a good way for them to align themselves with the community. I think this sponsorship will make for a good introduction to Jackson."

Continental broke ground on its new tire-manufacturing facility just outside of Jackson last year and will begin production in 2019. Visit Jackson will also be an event sponsor for the 2018 marathon.

The Blues Marathon has also moved from the first or second Saturday of January to the final Saturday. Noblin told the Jackson Free Press that race officials made the change to avoid conflicting with the Walt Disney World Marathon and the Louisiana Marathon, also placing the event further from the Christmas and New Year's season.

The Mississippi Blues Marathon includes a marathon, half marathon, quarter marathon and team-relay marathon. Race registration for the next event will open Sept. 20 at 10 a.m. For more information, visit msbluesmarathon.com.

Beckham Custom Jewelry Opens New Location

Beckham Custom Jewelry Co., which opened in LeFleur's Gallery four years ago, closed in July of this year to relocate to a new, larger location. Following a soft opening in August, the store held a grand opening on Sept. 15 for its new location at The District at Eastover (120 District Blvd., Suite D-110).

At 2,000 square feet, the new store is twice the size of the former location, making room for more in-house manufacturing and casting equipment, as well as redesigned showcases.

"Our new jewelry cases are all at eye level, allowing us to do business with our customers shoulder-to-shoulder in a more casual setting," owner and master jeweler Brian Beckham told the Jackson Free Press. "We also added a second design room with computer modeling and 3D printing equipment to help customers design their own custom jewelry for production. We also offer the option to recycle materials from other jewelry. Our ultimate goal is to create unique items designed and produced in Jackson."

Beckham Custom Jewelry Co. is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, call 601-665-4642 or visit beckhamjewelry.com.

Innovate Mississippi Hosts New Venture Challenge

Innovate Mississippi, a nonprofit organization that promotes technology-based economic development in the state, will host its annual pitch competition, the Mississippi New Venture Challenge, on Tuesday, Oct. 17, at the Jackson Marriott hotel (200 E. Amite St.).

The challenge takes place from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. and is the first event in Innovate Mississippi's Conference on Technology Innovation, which runs through Wednesday, Oct. 18. The application deadline ended on Sept. 15.

During the competition, teams of students and representatives from startups and existing companies will present and promote their business plans to state entrepreneurs and investors. Each team will work together with a mentor to assist in preparation for the competition. Mentors include investors, Venture Coaching Academy fellows and industry experts, who Innovate Mississippi will match with teams based on their areas of expertise and experience.

Winners will receive cash prizes as well as resources to help grow their businesses, including complimentary services from attorneys, accountants, marketing experts and web developers. Innovate Mississippi will also feature the winners at its Shark Tank Live event on Wednesday during the Conference on Technology Innovation.

Tickets to the conference are $75 per person and can be purchased at eventbrite.com. For more information, call 601-960-3610 or visit innovate.ms.

Earnest Lee, superintendent of the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman, retired on Sept. 15. Marshal Turner, a warden at South Mississippi Correctional Institution, will serve as interim superintendent at Parchman.

Lee began his work with the Mississippi Department of Corrections as a correctional officer trainee at Parchman in 1981. He later served as a warden at Parchman, the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility and the South Mississippi Correctional Institution at various times over a 10-year period. Former MDOC Commissioner Christopher Epps named him superintendent at Parchman on May 1, 2012.

Lee, a Clarksdale native, has an associate’s degree in business from Coahoma Junior College and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Delta State University.

The Mississippi State Penitentiary is the state’s largest and oldest prison. State prisoners constructed most of the 18,000-acre facility in Sunflower County in 1901. The prison’s current population is about 3,360 inmates, with the potential to house up to about 3,590 inmates. It is the only location for male maximum-security and death-row inmates in Mississippi.